''I get it,'' he said, ''the sun so loved the moon...''
His voice trailed off. We both knew the story. We knew it all too well. He was looking at me thoughtfully. I, however, turned away.
''What if,'' I began, ''the sun didn't want to die for the m...
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The warehouse, despite being extremely crowded, was filled with a strange quiet.
The entirety of both Tucker and Anna's pack gathered within the walls of Tucker's headquarters. Delia, once I'd given her back her memories, had gone to both packs to recruit them to fight against the hunters that Johnathan had gathered. The mood was somber, yet victorious. People of both packs whispered together, celebrating and grieving at the same time.
While I had faced my father, the other creatures and the wolves battled against the hunters. My spot on the couch gave me a good view of the many supernatural creatures gathered around and many of them were alive and healing quickly. But many of them had died too.
Hence the silence.
I thought of Elias and his broken body on the forest floor, my father standing over him. I expected my skin to tingle at the anger-filled memory, but it didn't come. The excess power I'd felt for so long was gone. The tree had taken it as payment and I felt it's absence like a missing limb.
Thinking of my father and what I'd done to him, I knew the cost was high. Johnathan had paid for it more than I had.
But when I turned my head and saw Elias sitting next to his mother, very much alive, shoving Ben's shoulder and laughing, I knew that it was worth it. Whatever the cost.
It was as if Delia had never been gone. Lucas had instantly delved into stories about their lives while she was 'away.' Even baby Noah had warmed up to her instantly. Ben was grinning, his face flushed and healthy.
And Elias was alive.
As the night passed, I learned more and more about the creatures that had been lost to my father and the hunters. Sophia Angelos was gone and Tilly seemed more angry than sad. She'd said that once Sophia saw the tide changing in the fight, she escaped into the woods. Nobody in Tilly's family knew where she went.
Malik, the daemon who had helped train me, had not made it out of the forest that night. His loss hit hard.
The two vampires had survived unscathed and stood apart from the rest of the creatures, watching silently. Their gazes were curious. They seemed to see and hear everything going on around them, but were strangely impassive.
The fair folk, however, were not so lucky. Rhiwallon, Mara's father, and his guard had both been killed by hunters. The half-fey girl was sitting by Gray and Ben, looking more shocked than anything else. I was happy to see that two of my best friends were making her laugh.
When she met my eye and rose from her spot, I noticed a figure trailing a few feet behind her. She smiled as she met me by the window. It was nearly morning but the somber celebration showed no signs of stopping.
"You have a shadow, you know?"
Mara chuckled dryly, not sounding like her heart was really into it.
